


When Dean Drinks Tea

by justspn



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Bunker Life, Cas and Dean are in a relationship, Cas makes Dean tea, Fever, Mother Hen Castiel, Running Hot, Sam warns Cas about how Sick!Dean sucks, Sick Dean Winchester, Sickfic, Sore throat, They share a bed and everything, feverfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:21:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21815836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justspn/pseuds/justspn
Summary: Dean wished he hadn’t woken up. Sleep had been keeping him from feeling miserable, and now that he was awake he was having a rough time. He felt super miserable. Super super miserable. His throat was the worst part, quickly followed by how his whole body shook with shivers from a fever he was most definitely running.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 2
Kudos: 117





	When Dean Drinks Tea

Dean rolled over and looked at the time on his phone. It was getting late in the morning and he could smell breakfast cooking. Cas had gotten up an hour ago and Dean really meant to go cook breakfast with him, but he was just so tired. He flopped back down on his pillow and sighed, wishing he could stay in bed all day.

“Dean?” Cas asked quietly, pushing the door to their room open. “Oh good, you’re awake. Breakfast is ready. Do you want me to bring you some in here?” Cas perched on the side of the bed and ran his fingers through Dean’s hair.

“I’ll get up,” Dean said as he relished in Cas’ touch. When Cas pulled his hand back Dean sat up and pulled on a pair of pajama pants. He shuffled after Cas to the kitchen where Sam was pouring himself a cup of coffee. 

“Morning sleepy head,” Sam joked, handing Dean the cup he had just poured himself. “You look like hell.”

“Good morning Sam, how nice of you to be pleasant.” Dean sat down at the table and took a sip of the coffee. It stung the back of his throat as it went down and Dean winced slightly. 

“You okay?” Sam asked, noticing pain flash across his brother’s face.

“Yeah, was just hotter than I was expecting,” Dean said. He blew on the surface of the liquid for show and wrapped his cold fingers around the mug. Now that the coffee had brought attention to his sore throat, Dean was having trouble ignoring it. 

Cas set a plate of pancakes and bacon in front of Dean and sat down next to him. Dean gave him a smile of thanks and pressed his leg into Cas’. “So what’s the plan for today? Anything exciting happening?” Cas asked, trying to stir up some conversation. 

“I’m researching a really interesting lead about a monster back in the 1650’s that might have made a reappearance,” Sam said, his eyes lighting up as he discussed his plans for the day.

“Eww Sam, I’m trying to eat,” Dean snapped. He meant to have it come out sounding like a joke, but it was harsher than he intended.

“You’ve hardly touched your food man. Go back to bed, k?” Sam looked his older brother over carefully. Dean was a little pale but he did just get out of bed less than 10 minutes ago, so that didn’t necessarily mean anything. 

Dean took another sip of his coffee, staring Sam down as he did so. Cas pressed his leg a little harder into Dean’s. “Why don’t we watch some Netflix? I want to finish Breaking Bad sometime this year,” Cas hinted. Dean did seem more tired than normal, and Sam was right. He hadn’t touched any of his food besides the coffee- which seemed to be causing him pain. Cas rubbed his hand over Dean’s back in soothing circles. “Come on,” Cas said as he stood up from the table. 

Dean grumbled under his breath but stood up and followed Cas to their bedroom, grabbing his coffee as he went. Cas folded back the covers on the bed and turned on the tv Dean had stashed in the corner of the room. Dean set his coffee on the nightstand and sighed as he curled into bed. 

“Are you feeling sick?” Cas asked as he got into bed with Dean, using the remote of the PS4 to scroll Netflix. 

Dean rolled his eyes as he pulled the blankets up over his shoulders. “I’m just tired Cas, nothing to worry about.”

Cas left the topic alone after that, but Dean could feel him watching Dean more than he was watching Breaking Bad. 

Dean sighed as the episode got started. He snuggled down into the blankets and wished he had a few cough drops, or even some tea. His throat was really bothering him, more than he’d ever admit to anyone, and he wished that he could fall back asleep so that he could ignore the ache that was starting to form throughout his body. 

After half an episode, Cas could hear how deeply Dean was breathing. He glanced down and saw that Dean’s eyes were shut. Stretching so that he didn’t wake Dean, Cas reached over to the nightstand and grabbed the PS4 remote. He stopped the episode of Breaking Bad so that Dean wouldn’t miss anything, and put on the Earth documentary he’d been itching to see. 

The next time Cas looked down at Dean he was surprised to see color high on Dean’s cheeks. Dean had been pale when they got back into bed. Cas reached over and palmed Dean’s forehead. He was starting to run a fever. Silently, Cas extracted himself from the bed and went back to the kitchen. Sam was still sitting at the table reading the local paper. 

“Dean has a fever,” Cas said as he walked into the room.

Sam looked up from the article he was enjoying. “Well, that explains a lot.”

“Should I wake him to give him some Tylenol?” Cas asked, digging through the cupboards until he found the herbal tea he was looking for. 

“No, never wake Dean unless there’s an emergency taking place. He would despise you for doing that,” Sam responded, chuckling slightly. 

“So I should just wait until he wakes on his own and give him medicine then?” Cas asked, still unsure of how to deal with a sick Dean. They hadn’t been together for very long and there were still lots of things about Dean that Cas was unsure about. 

“The way to deal with Dean when he gets sick is to leave him alone until he tells you that something’s wrong. Otherwise he’ll tell you he’s fine and push himself to collapse. Trust me, it’s weird, but it’s the way he works,” Sam said, going back to his paper. 

Cas frowned and hurried back to the bedroom. Dean was still asleep, and curled close to Cas once Cas was back in bed. 

It was hours before Dean woke up again. Cas had worked his way through a whole season of that Earth documentary and was dozing off himself when Dean groaned as he rolled over to look at Cas. 

“Hi sleepy head,” Cas said with a smile. Dean’s hair was standing up on end and he had sleep lines on his face and arms.

“What time is it?” Dean croaked. His throat was on fire and he needed a drink.

“Almost two,” Cas replied. 

Dean groaned again as he pushed himself into a sitting position. He rubbed at his eyes before standing to shuffle out of the bedroom. He slowly made his way to the bathroom where he used the toilet and drank about a gallon of water from the faucet.

Cas wanted to follow him, but Sam’s warning about a sick Dean stood out loud and clear in his mind. So, instead of mother henning Dean, Cas made himself busy by remaking the bed. Dean’s nap had untucked the sheets and Cas knew how much Dean hated sleeping in a bed with untucked sheets. 

Dean was pale when he shuffled back into the room, almost alarmingly so. He crawled back into bed and pulled the covers up to his chin. Shivers were running through him and he wished he hadn’t woken up. Sleep had been keeping him from feeling miserable, and now that he was awake he was having a rough time. He felt super miserable. Super super miserable. His throat was the worst part, quickly followed by how his whole body shook with shivers from a fever he was most definitely running. 

Cas reached down and ran his fingers through Dean’s hair and smiled when Dean’s eyes slipped shut. He was also subtly checking Dean’s temperature. He felt a little warmer than earlier, but not by much. He bit his cheek to keep himself from asking Dean if he was alright, really wanting Dean to open up to him on his own. Cas wasn’t sure why, but he felt like that would be a big step in their relationship. 

“Cas,” Dean whispered, his throat too sore to talk at a normal level.

“Yes, Dean?” 

“Would you mind making me some tea?” Dean sounded hesitant, like Cas wouldn’t want to get out of bed for him. 

“Of course. What kind would you like?” Cas asked, gently slipping out of bed. 

“Something with honey, please,” Dean replied, rolling over to where Cas had been lying to soak up his leftover heat. 

Cas went swiftly to the kitchen and started to heat up some water. Once the kettle was on, he went to the library to find Sam. “He asked for tea with honey,” Cas informed him. 

“Did he now? Huh,” Sam said, standing up from where he’d been bent over the books in front of him. 

“Why did you use that tone?” Cas asked, wanting to understand how to care for Dean as well as possible. 

“Because he never drinks tea, like ever. And he never asks for it. Usually he makes it in secret so no one knows he’s been drinking it,” Sam answered, stretching his back out. 

“Well, what should I do?” Cas asked, wringing his hands nervously. 

“Make him tea, I guess,” Sam said as he sat back down. 

Cas nodded and went back into the kitchen. The water was boiling so he poured it into a mug and plonked an herbal tea bag into it. He poured some honey in as well, and stirred it around before carrying it back to the bedroom. 

“Here’s your tea,” Cas said quietly. Dean rolled over and sat up slightly. “Would you like some Tylenol?” Cas asked, unable to just ignore the fact he knew Dean was sick. 

Dean nodded as he took the tea from Cas and closed his eyes as he let the mug warm his hands. 

Cas practically ran to the bathroom to retrieve some Tylenol and the thermometer. 

Dean opened his eyes when Cas came back into the room. He wanted to tell Cas to fuck off when he saw the thermometer in his hand, but he didn’t have the energy. Plus, the thought of Cas taking care of him was kind of nice. He cooperated while Cas took his temperature, noticing how Cas looked like he was treating a wild animal. Like any quick movement would scare Dean away. 

“You have a fever, Dean,” Cas said as he looked at the number on the tiny screen once the thermometer had beeped. 

“I know,” Dean whispered back. 

“You knew and didn’t take any medicine?” Cas seemed taken aback by Dean’s response. 

“I’ve only been awake for like, 10 minutes. Don’t get your panties in a bunch.”

Cas narrowed his eyes at Dean before giving him a few pills. Dean swallowed them with difficulty and sipped at his tea. Cas got back into bed and didn’t say anything when Dean leaned into him almost immediately. 

“Ya know, I don’t usually do this,” Dean whispered. 

“Do what?”

“Admit that I’m sick.”

“Sam did mention that earlier,” Cas said, a small smile breaking out on his face. 

“Oh, have you been talking about me?” Dean asked jokingly. 

“Yes, and he informed me to not pester you about how you’re feeling because you’ll just shut me out to seem tough,” Cas responded more seriously. 

“Cas, I’m not shutting you out, am I?” 

Cas paused. “No, I don’t think so.”

“No, I’m not. That’s because you’re not Sam.” Dean put his tea on the nightstand and curled up with his head in Cas’ lap. “I don’t want to shut you out, ever. And, I even like the idea of you taking care of me, as crazy as that sounds.”

Cas smiled at that. He scratched at Dean’s scalp and felt an overwhelming amount of love flood over him for the man lying on his lap. 

“I’m glad you don’t want to shut me out, Dean. Now, try and get some sleep, okay?”

“Only if you stay with me,” Dean said. 

“I’ll stay with you forever,” Cas responded, his smile growing. 

“Good,” Dean said, snuggling in closer to Cas. 

fin


End file.
